


To See a Marching Band

by arachnophobic



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Colorguard, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Marching Band, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-11 23:03:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20161570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arachnophobic/pseuds/arachnophobic
Summary: Bucky and Steve hate each other.Bucky is the captain of the colorguard.Steve is just trying to get his P.E. credit.





	To See a Marching Band

“Son of a bitch.”

Bucky looks up at Natasha from where he’s stretching on the grass and then follows her gaze over towards the entrance to the field where Coach Fury is leading some guy towards them.

“Oh you’ve gotta be shittin’ me,” Bucky groans.

“Barnes!” Fury waves him over.

Bucky rolls his eyes but tells Natasha to start warmups and jogs over. Fury is still talking to the guy, or  _ kid _ really Bucky thinks considering how small he is, who has his back towards Bucky.

"Barnes, this is the newest member of the guard, Steve Rogers," Fury says. 

Bucky is wracking his brain trying to figure out why that name sounds familiar when the kid turns around and it hits him. Steve  _ fucking  _ Rogers. The kid that has managed to be in every one of his classes since he even started  _ going  _ to school. Steve Rogers with his stupid big nose and thick glasses and more absences than there are days in a school year. And he has the nerve to try and join the guard,  _ Bucky's _ guard. 

"Steve Rogers," Steve says, holding his hand out for Bucky to shake,

“Barnes,” Bucky says, plastering on a fake smile and firmly grabs Steve’s hand.

"Don't we have a class together?"

"We sure do, quite a few actually," Bucky says, forcing a laugh and looking right into the kid's eyes, "Coach could I talk to you privately for a minute?"

Fury leads them a few feet away from Rogers who's absolutely transfixed by the rest of the guard running their choreography. 

"Are you  _ fucking _ kidding me, Coach?" Bucky sneers, "band camp starts Monday, I've already taught everyone all of the choreography. There's no way he'll be able to catch up in time, he's just going to hold us all back. How is he even allowed to be here, he's never in class there’s no way he has the grades for it."

"I already checked his grades and he's passing with flying colors. Not that that's any of your business anyway, Barnes," Fury says in a stern tone that causes Bucky's face to go red, "and as for his late attendance, I already informed him that he would be behind and he assured me that he was willing to put in the work to catch up. I thought for sure that someone with your capabilities would be more than willing to work with him,  _ especially  _ with your role as captain."

“Alright alright fine,” Bucky says, “but if he like dies or something that isn’t my fault.”

“I think you’ll find him to be a valuable member of your team, Barnes.”

Bucky mumbles a ‘whatever’ and walks back over to where Clint and Natasha are talking.

“I bet five dollars he quits by next week,” Clint says.

“I bet ten he’s out by tomorrow,” Natasha says.

“I bet fifty he stays the whole season,” Bucky says as he joins the group.

“Christ Barnes, do you know something we don’t?” Clint asks.

“No,” he says with a shrug, “I just don’t think he’ll give up that easily.”

“You’re crazy dude,” Clint says, shaking his head, “alright, I’m in.”

“Nat, you in?” Bucky asks.

“Sure, why not? I could always use the extra cash,” Natasha says with a smirk.

“Hell yeah. Oh wait, let’s shake on it,” Clint says and spits into his hand and holds it out for Bucky to shake.

“Dude that’s disgusting,” Bucky says, with a laugh, “I gotta go start practice.”

“Nat?” Clint asks, holding his hand towards her.

“Gross,” she says, walking away with Bucky.

“Aw guys,” Clint says, wiping his hand on his pants and jogging after them. 

* * *

He didn’t want the handout. The P.E. coach, Coach Coulson, had said if he took P.E. he could just use it as a free period for the whole semester and still get the required credit. But he didn’t want to take the easy way out, he wanted to try something new, something that would challenge him. Which is why he’s now standing on the football field in the middle of summer while Coach Fury talks to James  _ fucking  _ Barnes. Barnes the know-it-all with his greasy hair and his holier-than-thou attitude that he’s had since fucking  _ kindergarten _ . Of course he’s the captain of the guard or the team or whatever. He’s just started thinking about what he could do in that free period when Coach Fury walks back over. They discuss the forms that Steve will need to fill out by Monday and he’s about to dismiss him when Steve asks

“Do you really think I’ll be able to catch up?”

“I won’t lie to you, it’s not gonna be easy,” Fury says, “but it’s possible, if you put in the work.”

“You think Barnes will actually be willing to help?”

“Barnes takes a bit to warm up to people but he’s good at what he does and he’s a hell of a teacher. I’m sure you two will be able to figure it out.”

“Thanks Coach Fury,” Steve says and walks across the field to where Barnes and the rest of the guard are. There’s a bunch of people holding flagpoles and spinning them in time with Barnes’s clapping. Steve stands awkwardly to the side and waits for Barnes to notice him. They finish the warmup they’re doing and Barnes dismisses the guard for water and turns to Steve.

“I don’t have time to teach you everything today so just sit there and watch.” Barnes says.

Steve doesn't get a chance to argue before he turns around and has the others come back over to start. Steve flounders for a minute at the sudden dismissal and then sits down on the grass to watch. Barnes turns on a little speaker before joining the others as they count off and the music starts to play and the guard starts doing their routine and it's...breathtaking. Steve stares in awe at the beautiful way the flags are all moving in sync along with the music. They're flowing the flags up high and spinning them around their bodies and it's graceful and powerful and Steve wants so badly to be a part of something like that. At one point a few of the members (Barnes included) put their flags on the ground and pick up these things that look like guns (rifles maybe?) and start spinning and throwing those around instead and it's  _ amazing _ . They reach what seems to be the end of their routine and Barnes has a flag again and he spins it around before doing some sort of cartwheel and then throwing it in the air and catching it with a solid grip. It's the coolest thing Steve's ever seen and he can't help but start clapping once the music stops. Some of the guard members thank him while Barnes just rolls his eyes and tells the others to take a five minute break. After their break, they run through the routine a few more times with Barnes watching from the sideline and occasionally calling out instructions ("To the left, not the right!" "That should have been a triple not a double!" "That should be snap catch!") and Steve sits watching the whole time. Next thing he knows, Barnes is dismissing everyone and reminding them to practice before rehearsal Monday. 

"Rogers," he says, not looking at Steve, "meet me at Grant Park tomorrow morning at nine."

"Okay, should I bring anything?" he asks, standing and brushing grass off his pants.

"Just water. You'll need to get gloves though," he finally turns to Steve and shows him his gloves, "I always recommend Ever-Dri but there are other brands, too. I use these black ones at rehearsal but you need nude ones for shows."

"Oh um okay, anything else? Do I need to get one of those flags?"

"No but you'll need a bag," Barnes says as he starts to take off his gloves and gather his things.

"Like? A backpack?" Steve asks, a little confused.

"Yeah sure if you can fit a six foot pole in your backpack," he rolls his eyes, "you need a flag bag, just google it and a lot of options will show up. Oh and shoes but Coach will order those for you if you tell him your size."

"Okay is there anything else I should know?" he asks as Barnes starts walking away.

"Nope, don't be late tomorrow," he says over his shoulder.

Steve watches him leave for a minute before leaving towards the parking lot. 

_ Okay _ , he thinks,  _ I can totally handle this. _

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I hope you enjoyed this little piece! I will be updating as frequently as I can. I will also be updating the tags and characters as necessary. I've proofread this as best I could but feel free to let me know if you notice any errors. And just for reference [this is the cartwheel move](https://t.co/E3SBTUC6Wz?amp=1) that Bucky does :) Let me know what you think!


End file.
